Exodus 5

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

Then Aaron and Moses/I went to the king and [one of them/us] said, “Yahweh God, whom [we] Israeli people [worship], says this [to you]: ‘Let my people go to the desert, in order that they may have a feast to [honor] me!’”

2 And Pharaoh said, Who [is] the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

But the king said, “Who is Yahweh? Why should I pay attention to what he says and let the Israeli [people] [MTY] go? I do not know Yahweh! And furthermore, I will not let the Israeli [people] go!”

3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice to the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

They/we replied, “Yahweh God, the one we Hebrews [worship], has (revealed himself/appeared) to us [and told us what to tell you]. So we ask you to [please] let us go on a three day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to Yahweh God [there]. [If we do] not do that, he will cause us to die [IDM] from diseases or from attacks [by our enemies] [MTY].”

4 And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people from their works; go you to your burdens.

But the king of Egypt said to them/us, “Moses and Aaron, (stop trying to keep the Israeli people from working/why are you preventing the Israeli people from working?) [RHQ] [Tell those slaves] to return to work!”

5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now [are] many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

The king also said, “Listen [to me! You] people [who now live] in this land are now [more] numerous, and you want them [to stop working and] rest!”

6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the task-masters of the people, and their officers, saying,

That same day the king commanded the Egyptian slave bosses and the [Israeli] men supervising the slaves,

7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

“Do not continue to give the [Israeli] people straw for making bricks, as you have done previously. Make them go [into the fields] and gather straw for themselves.

8 And the number of the bricks which they made heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish [aught] thereof; for they are idle: therefore they cry, saying, Let us go [and] sacrifice to our God.

But require them to make the same number of bricks that they did before. Do not decrease the number at all. They (are lazy/do not have enough work to do). That is the reason they are asking me to let them go [into the desert] to offer sacrifices to their god.

9 Let more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein: and let them not regard vain words.

Force the men to work harder, so that they will not [have time] to listen to lies [from their leaders]!”

10 And the task-masters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

So the slave bosses and supervisors of the slaves went to where the [Israeli] people were and said to them, “The king has said that he will no longer give you any straw.

11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not aught of your work shall be diminished.

[So] you yourselves must go and get straw wherever you can find it. But you must still keep working to make the same number of bricks as before.” [LIT]

12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt, to gather stubble instead of straw.

So the Israeli people went all over Egypt to find straw.

13 And the task-masters hastened [them], saying, Fulfill your works, [your] daily tasks, as when there was straw.

The slave bosses kept telling them insistently, “Finish the work you are required to do each day, [making the same amount of bricks] as you did [before, when we gave you] straw!”

14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's task-masters had set over them, were beaten, [and] demanded, Why have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick, both yesterday and to-day, as heretofore?

[When they were not able to do that], the slave bosses had the [Israeli supervisors] beaten [with sticks], and they asked them, “Why have [all the men you are supervising] not been able to make [the same number] of bricks today/now as [they did] before [RHQ]?”

15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, Why dealest thou thus with thy servants?

Then the Israeli supervisors went to the king and complained, saying “[Your Majesty], why are you treating us this way?

16 There is no straw given to thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and behold, thy servants [are] beaten; but the fault [is] in thy own people.

[Now] they are not giving us any straw [for making bricks], but they keep commanding us to make bricks. And now sometimes they beat us. But it is the fault of your own slave bosses [that we cannot make as many bricks as before]!”

17 But he said, Ye [are] idle, [ye are] idle: therefore ye say, Let us go, [and] do sacrifice to the LORD.

But the king said, “You are lazy and do not [want to] work! That is why you keep saying, ‘Allow us to go [to the desert] and offer sacrifices to Yahweh.’

18 Go therefore now, [and] work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the number of bricks.

So go and get back to work! [We] are not going to give you any straw, but you must keep making the same number of bricks!”

19 And the officers of the children of Israel saw [that] they [were] in evil [case], after it was said, Ye shall not diminish [aught] from your bricks of your daily task.

The Israeli supervisors realized that they were in a difficult situation, because they had been told, “We are not going to decrease the number of bricks [you must make] each day.”

20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

As they left the king’s [palace], they met Aaron and Moses/me, who were waiting for them [there].

21 And they said to them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hands to slay us.

They said to Aaron and Moses/me, “Yahweh has seen [what] you two [have done] He will punish you [MTY], because you have caused the king and his officials to despise us! You have given them an excuse [MTY] to kill us!”

22 And Moses returned to the LORD, and said, Lord, why hast thou [so] ill treated this people? why [is] it [that] thou hast sent me?

Moses/I left them and prayed to Yahweh again, saying, “O Yahweh, why have you caused all these evil things to happen to your people [RHQ]? And why did you send me [here] [RHQ]?

23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Ever since I went to the king and told him what you told me to say [MTY], he has treated your people very cruelly, and you have not done anything to help/rescue them!”